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Return To Zork
__TOC__ Your Game Packaging Originally when you bought the game (and if you're one of the few people who has this game in full with original manuals) you got a pretty convincing "Sweepstakes Winner" letter and the "Encyclopedia Frobozzica" along with a very brief pamphlet about the wonderful world of Zork, congratulating you about purchasing Return To Zork. You had another manual with a list of current famous Activision games, with an order form to get for a fee of $10.95 USD, the official Return to Zork "Hint Guide" directly from Activision. The Hint Book would aid you solve all of the puzzles (or leave you quite confused). The official hint book wasn't the best guide for Return to Zork at the time. You could get a fully illustrated Unofficial Return To Zork Guide from a third party that would help you solve the puzzles, and gave you images and maps much easier to work with. The sweepstakes letter which was an essential part of the game, would give you a list of the things you had won: A Pholobloid Instant Camera, a Zony tape recorder, and a Tele-Orb. You start the game with a box of matches and a map, which are assumed to come from the gift shop located inside West Shanbar's historic Pawn Shop (as the letter suggests picking 3''' free gifts from there) however you don't get to that point until much later in the game; so it's hard to know exactly where these come from for sure. In addition you also have '''"a sharp knife from home" which as it explains, you must have somehow brought from your home suspecting who knows what. Incidentally the letter also offers a free stay in the historical West Shanbar Vacation Village Resort which is nowhere to be found but rumored to be part of the "Road to the South". As you will learn soon enough while passing through the Mountain Pass, the Road to the South is not just full of vultures and death; but it's definitely impassable. Instead, later you get to stay in the "Inn of Isenough" for a fee of 2 zorkmids per night. And if you were really bored, you could go for a night thrill in the "Chuckles Comedy Club" -that would surely snap you out of your depression! IT&L's VALLEY OF THE SPARROWS RESORT 5 Arch 1647 GUE Dear Sweepstakes Winner, CONGRATULATIONS! You are the Grand Prize Winner in IT&L's Vacation Sweepstakes! You have just been selected for an all expenses paid four day vacation in the fabulous Valley of the Sparrows! Visit the greatest archaeological discovery of our time-the newly discovered caverns that prove the existence of the Great Underground Empire of Zork, at no cost to you! This terrific prize package includes four days and three nights accommodations at the scenic West Shanbar Vacation Village Resort located on the impossibly beautiful Road to the South and just a stone's throw from the Northern River Lighthouse. There's more! In the next few days you will receive a special delivery package with three bonus gifts to help you make the most of your upcoming trip. Your gifts will include a Pholobloid Instant Camera so you can take all the pictures you want, a Zony tape recorder for your personal listening pleasure, and our latest invention, the Tele-Orb from which I or my famous partner Wizard Trembyle, will provide useful commentary during your travels through the valley. Best of all, by participating in this wonderful vacation you are eligible to receive a one year free trial membership in our soon to be completed Great Underground Timeshare Rezort. This is no ordinary offer. There are no strings attached! Just come to the scenic Valley of the Sparrows, claim your vacation prize package and attend a low-key 90 minute presentation. The rest of your stay in the Valley of the Sparrows is yours to enjoy. Take advantage of all the fun -filled activities offered in the captivating Valley of the Sparrows: Boating... on the scenic Northern River that runs south through East and West Shanbar. Sightseeing... at the historic Temple at Bel Naire. Exploring... in the ruins of the Great Underground Empire! Night Life... Enter the joke telling contest at Cliff's Comedy Club! Be one of the first to walk amidst the ruins of the lost Underground Empire of Zork. See for yourself! We have indisputable evidence that proves the existence of the legendary subterranean world of Zork, whose vast array of caverns was hidden away during the Great Diffusion over 400 years ago! Finally, upon arrival in the Valley of the Sparrows, as a special welcome bonus, we would like to invite you to drop by our gift shop located inside West Shanbar's historic Pawn Shop, to choose three free gifts from our wide selection of numismatic wonders, gadgets, mementos, and other great items. Remember, all you have to do is attend the IT&L Group's low-key, 90 minute informative orientation that I will personally host-then, spend the rest of your vacation in the Valley of the Sparrows enjoying the activities of your choice. See you soon! Sincerely, E. Rufus Rooper Executive Vice President Illumynite, Translumynite & Leisure, Inc. Encyclopedia Frobozzica: Copy Protection Answers Throughout the game you will find a couple of places where you will be asked copy protection questions. The most obvious ones are Rebecca's Test (you do not need to do this one in the Macintosh version) and Mavis Peepers Test (this is mandatory in all versions to continue the game). The answers are as followed: Days of the week *Sand Day *Mud Day *Grues Day *Wands Day *Birthday *Frob Day™ *Star Day Months of the year *Estuary *Frobuary™ *Arch *Oracle *Mage *Jam *Jelly *Augur *Suspendur *Ottobur *Mumberbur *Dismembur Introduction You find a clearing in the deep woods with a deserted white house, in the middle of nowhere. You move northwest then southwest (it doesn't make any sense but) you find yourself at the front where there's a mailbox. It is hard to believe a mailman would indeed come to a place like this to deliver mail. In reality this game acts as a sequel to Zork I, II and III in which you get a map, compass, knife, and you move around in a very similar way; looking for a way to move forward without any idea or expectations where you're going. Incidentally you also have no clue what you're doing, you don't know if there's anyone to rescue and (in some cases) you find yourself so involved in the plot, you CAN even forget you're playing a game. You open the mailbox and are greeted by Ruper, who congratulates you but shouts "No.... No.... HELP!!!" leaving you to wonder what the heck is going on! After a beautiful display of scenery above the woods which I assume it's because a vulture just carried you from where you were; you're brought to the top of a rocky mountain path. And here your journey begins. Your inventory Your inventory can be accessed if you click the right mouse button. If you happen to be in the Mac version (and you have one of the early mice) you need to press Ctrl+mouse button to be able to get to your inventory (a PITA no doubt). Every item in your inventory will have relevant options to choose from. By picking up an item you may have other options, for example you can recall the inventory and click on a second item (while holding the first one) and you may be given options like joining the items together, or using them with each other. If you observe some items you're given clues as to what they may be good for - "a rock: good for throwing at things". Don't be fooled, these type of hints are rare. Your Tele-Orb A Tele-orb... What the heck is a Tele-orb? Well, it sort of looks like a glass ball like the ones fortune tellers use. But there is an actual wizard who talks to you in this one; every now and then. You will find however that this (I'd like to be as nice as possible) "jerk" will not come on when you really are in trouble. He really doesn't say much. Sometimes he will come up when you're viewing some of your inventory items. The times this guy comes up however whether is for gossip, useful information, or warnings; you should always listen since he's there for a purpose. Your Knife (from home) It is obvious what knives are for, but you wont be using it for the obvious things o_0 at least not yet... Your Camera This is your faithful companion! Do not underestimate the values of a picture, snapshot, photo, whatever you want to call it - take pictures of EVERYTHING! In this wonderful game (the only one with these attributes in the Zork series) you can show the pictures to the people you encounter. You WONT be able to solve some of the puzzles (or get certain items) unless you gather the appropriate photos! Your Voice Recorder Same as pictures, except you DO NOT have to record, because the machine will do that for you. Whatever you hear will be recorded. Even Rebecca Snoot dog's bark will be recorded! If you're stuck, you can pull out the recorder and see if the person has anything to say about the recorded message. Your Map Your trusty map will record locations as you encounter them. There's not much in it but there will be soon. The map will have a total of two pages eventually, but not yet. Your Photo Album Your second best friend, this is where your pictures will be stored. Show it off often to people! CHAPTER 1 Mountain Pass: Valley of the Sparrows May also be called Mountain Path or Valley of the Vultures, whatever you prefer. Are you confused about the orb? Don't worry, there's a battery in the gift shop. Remember the Sweepstakes letter? That's the Gift Shop they speak about, but first things first! IMPORTANT THINGS: *Take a photo to learn how to use the camera, your photos will store in your photo album. *Roll your mouse all over the screen. There is a rock nearby. *That vulture, hmm, be careful it's quite hungry! *See the sign? There's a plant by the foot of that sign, be careful though! *The upper left corner is your control panel, here you can restore or save your game. Save often. *You have 99 save slots, no need to replace old saves! *Red cursors arrows are for moving to the next screen, while the hand will explore the one you're in. *Captions are important to let you know about places names and objects. Well, the Vulture is very lethal! So talking to it once shall be enough, too much interaction and you'll be eaten. There is death all around you, save often! The knife wont do you any good, use it just for kicks but the vulture needs to be hit by the rock. The knife will help you dig out the plant. DO NOT cut the plant, the plant needs to be alive for the Cliff's of Depression Comedy Club. Examine the plant once you're holding it, and the Wizard will inform you that it likes you! The Lighthouse Move forward by clicking your red arrow and you'll see a majestic view of a lighthouse. From now on, you must remember to take a picture as soon as you enter an area. Things that can't be photographed are not important. Go straight with your red arrow to approach it (the Wizard says to ask about the Road to the South), before you enter the lighthouse I suggest you take a picture at the Road to the South so click on your forward arrow once more and you will be facing the road. Be careful, once step forward and you're dead meat. If you encountered a few planks on the ground, ignore them for now. Try to enter the lighthouse, don't worry it doesn't take much effort. IMPORTANT THINGS: *Highlight the Keeper's picture or his lighthouse and he'll tell you about illumynite. *Not really important, but try showing or giving your matches to the Keeper! As you probably have been able to tell already, the emotions of your character will play an important role in the outcome of the conversation. Later on, things you hear will be collected in a notepad, so to be able to fill it, try to hear as much as possible from people. Like the recorder, the notes are recorded automatically as you travel and talk to people. External Links The Zork Library The Zork Compendium: Encyclopedia Frobozzica Return to Zork at GameFAQs Return to Zork at the Internet Movie database Return to Zork in Wikipedia Return To Zork Walkthrough Mr. Bill's Adventureland Review